Drummond was named MVP. Fellow Lion running back Sean Millington was named top Canadian.

"Their running game just took it to us," Montreal coach Charlie Taaffe said. "With a team like that, if they can run the ball on you then obviously it puts that much more pressure on your defense.

"But it was a great Grey Cup game, a two-point game. It doesn't get much better than that."

Drummond opened the fourth quarter by taking a third-down gamble 44 yards for a touchdown. Drummond, playing in his fifth Grey Cup, took the handoff deep in the B.C. backfield, sped through the line and sprinted untouched to put B.C ahead 19-10.

On the ensuing possession, Montreal drove to the B.C. 44 before appearing to lose the ball on Calvillo's fumble. But game officials instead penalized Calvillo for intentional grounding, allowing the Alouettes to pull within 19-13 on Terry Baker's 51-yard field goal.

B.C. countered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with Allen's 1-yard run, his second touchdown, at 8:38 for a 25-13 lead. The two-point conversion failed.

Montreal running back Mike Pringle, who had a CFL-record 19 rushing touchdowns this season, scored from 5 yards at 11:11 to pull the Alouettes within 25-20.

Passaglia, who had missed three of his four first-half field goals, cemented the victory with a 29-yarder at 13:35 as B.C. became the first team in CFL history to win the Grey Cup with a losing record (8-10 in the regular season).

The Lions finished third in the East Division with an 8-10 mark before advancing to the league championship with road playoff wins over Edmonton and Calgary.

The Lions' fourth-quarter fireworks took Passaglia off the hook. Passaglia's first-half struggles allowed Montreal to remain within nine points despite being decidedly outplayed. Passaglia added three conversions, a field goal and two singles (missed field goals that the opposition is unable to run out of the end zone).

Jock Climie, playing in the first Grey Cup of his 11-year career, had Montreal's other touchdown. Baker added two field goals.

The game marked the end of John Tory's tenure as the league's volunteer commissioner and Jeff Giles term as league president. Stepping in to run the CFL is 39-year-old Mike Lysko, a marketing executive who said one of his first goals is expansion by two teams by 2003.

"I think there are markets people might be surprised that we might look at. Eastern Canada is a priority because quite frankly, I'd like to see Winnipeg back in the West where it belongs."

Lysko said last week he has spoken to several groups interested in bringing a franchise back to Ottawa.